Wednesday, April 27, 2011

#30DaysofBiking: Urbana, Eater of Potholes


The single best word to describe the Urbana is "tough". This isn't a bike you pamper, this is a bike you use. The big tires handle smooth pavement, rough pavement or no pavement with casual indifference. In rain & mud, the bike keeps going. With a big load on the back the bike handles basically the same as it does unloaded. In weeks of riding, I've never had to adjust the brakes or the shifting. This is a bike you just hop on and ride.

The 26*2.6" Niddepoule tires are the key to this bike, it was designed with the clearances needed to handle such big tires and fenders. When my friend Hughie rode the bike he commented that it "rode like a 29er!" Indeed those massive tires make the Urbana eat up terrain in much the same way a 29 inch wheeled mountain bike does. In fact, the tires on the Urbana are even fatter than those on my Octocog. And the Urbana is just as tough (possibly tougher) than any mountain bike I've ridden.


Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson
Issaquah WA USA

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5 comments:

  1. Lovely Bicycle!7:48 PM

    Nice! What is the longest trip you've ever made on the Urbana? I use mine for local transportation, but haven't yet ridden it more than 5 miles at a go.

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  2. Kent Peterson8:39 PM

    I've ridden it back and forth between Seattle and Issaquah a couple of times, with some errand running in Seattle. Max has been about 40 miles in a day.

    I'd want bars with more hand positions and a water bottle mount for any trips longer than that.

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  3. Velouria10:08 AM

    40 miles a day is quite a lot for this kind of bike, I'd say - good to know it can handle that. For me, the hand position becomes limiting after a short while, but it's comfortable enough for a local transport bike. The lack of water bottle mounts I don't really mind, as I can just keep water in my pannier.

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  4. Anonymous4:01 PM

    With all due respect 40 miles is nothing on this thing for Kent. You do know of his accomplishments, Velouria?
    Mark

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  5. Val4:39 PM

    Just so you know, "Nid de poule" (I've been told ) is French Cabnadian slang for a pothole. Strictly translated, it means "chicken's nest". Apparently they live up to their name. Val

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